Definition of soapbox
: an improvised platform used by a self-appointed, spontaneous, or informal orator; broadly : something that provides an outlet for delivering opinions

Monday, 13 August 2012

2012 Olympic Closure

I found myself weeping in the opening ceremony when "Jerusalem" and "Bread of heaven" was sang in the first few minutes. However the closing ceremony had a profound closure about it. George Michael sang his new song "White light." The lyrics reflect his near death experience last year.
"Something divine, oh divine, brought me back to you," "So I just Kept breathing my friends. Was it music that saved me ? Or the way that you prayed for me ? Cause either way I thank you I'm alive."Entering the stage singing freedom, wearing a diamante encrusted scull on his belt and a crucifix around his neck one wonders whether he is closer to the truth than he realises. "The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is everlasting life in Christ Jesus" Romans 6:23.

Dead people were prominent. John Lennon sang from a large video screen accompanied by a choir of children singing a line of the lyric "Imagine there is no hell" and Freddie Mercury lead the 80,000 capacity crowd on four giant video screens posthumously from his famous gig in Rio. Ed Sheridan sang Pink Floyds "Wish you were here" "So you think you can tell heaven from hell" a lament for a dead friend. Eric Idle ex-member of 'Monty Python' & 'Life of Brian' controversy sang "Forget about your sin," "always look on the bright side of life." The 2012 opening and closing ceremonies prove we are much more than physical beings. We have a spiritual side which is expressed through our songs and our music. The Olympics is seen as the showcase for human achievement, however whatever one achieves in life, the shadow of death is ever present. The doctrines of sin, death and hell were featured, not preached from any pulpit but declared as truth by a rebellious and unbelieving nation. As the lights fade and the stages are taken down many will go back to living their Godless lives. The living church must continue to point them, in which ever way they can, to salvation from sin, death and hell to the one and only Saviour of the world, The Lord Jesus Christ. The cauldron may have been extinguished last night but His light remains forever.